Thoughts of his 9-year-old daughter filled the mind of James Michael Grimes, a 28-year-old man who went overboard a cruise ship, and encouraged him to cling on until assistance came. And his inspiring brief narrative is simply incredible.
James Michael Grimes, 28, went on a Thanksgiving trip with 17 family members. But he could only spend one evening before confronting his biggest dread!
As he boarded the Carnival Valor in New Orleans on November 23, 2022, James, a construction worker from Valley, Alabama, was looking forward to a peaceful vacation to Cozumel. After the ship departed, James drank a few beers, wine, and a drink he won in an air guitar competition.
But then something awful occurred. The man jumped overboard from the cruise liner into the Gulf of Mexico after leaving the bar that evening!
James Michael Grimes has no memory of the accident, although he recalls regaining consciousness in the sea. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the sea, he said. The boat was no longer visible.
Other than supernatural intervention, James has no answer for how he survived while asleep in the sea. He can’t float even when he tries, so the Lord was with him while he was out there, he said.
It’s difficult to fathom lasting more than a few minutes in those seas with nothing but one’s clothes on, yet James did!
Drowning has always been his greatest fear, he said, so he swore himself he wouldn’t stop swimming.
James Michael Grimes was inspired to keep swimming and treading water for 18 hours by thoughts of his daughter.
James remembered that he kept thinking about how desperately he wished to see his 9-year-old daughter Annabeth while making up songs that he performed to himself.
What James probably didn’t know was that no one was searching for him until his sister noticed he was gone the following day. Carnival and the US Coast Guard quickly started looking, and to their surprise, they discovered James still alive!
The guy who went overboard from the cruise liner found two groups of jellyfish, which stung him all over his arms and legs while he was floating alone in the ocean. And he got perilously close to what he thought was a shark. The shark rubbed up against James, and he kicked it away, but it was terrible!
As the sun fell, James, who was very tanned at this point, started shaking, and then he saw two ships. He swam for hours to get closer to the ships, and he succeeded. Somebody on the deck of one of the ships saw James yelling for assistance. Someone tossed a life preserver to James, and he was soon in a basket, being hoisted out of the ocean and to safety!
During his experience, James gained both physical and mental strength. He knows that God was with him over those many hours in the water. He said he is still bruised and painful, yet it’s a wonder he is still alive. It was not his time to pass away. He is overjoyed to see his family again.
If James Michael Grimes didn’t have much to be thankful for before he embarked on that Thanksgiving trip, he sure does now!
